Firebacks

Manufactured in the Weald area

522 results

  1. 969

    cowden,_basing 02.jpg
    600 x 573 mm

    Description: Cavetto-canted rectangular shape; astragal edging (top and sides); letters in triad between separated date.

    Notes: The modest size of this fireback reflects the decreasing size of fireplaces in the 18th century.

    Inscription: 17 TRS [triad] 31

    Manufactured: in 1731 in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: in private hands, Cowden, Kent, England.

  2. 887

    cowden,_crippenden 03.jpg
    1470 x 800 mm

    Description: Rectangular; stepped fillet edging (top and sides), ending short of bottom of plate; rose and crown stamp repeated three times across top of plate, with initials 'IT' followed by a rose stamp to left, and a rose stamp followed by the date to right (1 or I crossed in both cases); concentric roundel stamp between each pair of rose and crown stamps; lower down, five small fleurs-de-lys between four concentric roundels; below left, initials FED in triad; below right, FRD in triad (D reversed).

    Notes: An alleged connection with the Tichborne family who lived at Crippenden in Cowden, Kent, may be justified if the initials, IT, refer to John Tichborne, the last of his family in the village, who died in 1708. The identities of those whose initials form the two triads is not known. The style of rose and crown is similar to that used in gun founding in the Tudor period, suggesting that the furnace that was the source of this fireback may have been used for that purpose.

    Inscription: IT 1699 / EFD [triad] RFD [triad]

    Manufactured: in 1699 in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Crippenden Manor, Cowden, Kent, England.

  3. 38

    cowfold_cottage tandoori.jpg
    1145 x 595 mm

    Description: Rectangular; fillet and astragal edging; initials between date in one horizontal line, upper half of plate.

    Inscription: 16 ES 57

    Manufactured: in 1657 possibly in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Cowfold Cottage Tandoori, Cowfold, West Sussex, England.

  4. 1007

    cowper_1.jpg
    1219 x 660 mm

    Description: Rectangular; twisted rope edging on top and sides; cavetto-moulded-edged rectangle top centre, enclosing date between initials; 14 shields of Ayloffe impaling Sulyard arranged 5-4-5; Ayloffe: sable, a lion rampant Or, collared gules, between three crosses formy of the second; Sulyard: argent, a chevron gules between three pheons inverted sable.

    Notes: William Ayloffe (c1535-1584) of Hornchurch, Essex, Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench, married (c1560) Jane, dau. of Sir Eustace Sulyard, of Runwell, Essex. A large number of variants use the same shields; this example, unusually, has the initials RS instead of the more common CT. Illustration from Cowper (1911). Previously at Loddenden, Staplehurst, and before that at Great Cheveney, Marden, Kent.

    Inscription: R 1627 S

    Arms: Ayloffe impaling Sulyard (William Ayloffe of Bretons, Hornchurch)

    Manufactured: in 1627 possibly at Hawkhurst Furnace in the Weald area of England.

    Current location:, not known.

    Citation: Cowper, H. S., 1911, 'A Series of Kentish Heraldic Firebacks and the Identification of the Arms', Archaeologia Cantiana, 29, pp. 40-6.

  5. 1039

    cranbrook,_branden.jpg
    1070 x 767 mm

    Description: Canted rectangular shape; twisted rope edging (top and sides) in short lengths; top centre, initials above date.

    Notes: The initials are likely to be those of Richard Holden, clothier of Cranbrook, who inherited Branden near Sissinghurst in 1623 and who was living there in 1659.

    Inscription: RH / 1659

    Manufactured: in 1659 probably at Biddenden Furnace in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: in private hands, Cranbrook, Kent, England.

    Citation: Holden, E. S., 1897, 'The Holden Family of Cranbrook, Kent, England', New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 51, pp. 214-218.

  6. 39

    cranbrook_museum.jpg
    805 x 640 mm

    Description: Quasi-arched rectangular shaped with cavetto canted top corners; fillet edging; two V-shaped arrangements of laths, one inverted and superimposed over the other, in centre of plate; date split on either side; initials in triangular arrangement above laths.

    Notes: The shape of the fireback is very similar to firebacks at Knole, Sevenoaks, of similar date, and may be the product of the same furnace; the 'X' shapes may have apotropaic significance.

    Inscription: 17 RSL 28

    Manufactured: in 1728 in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Cranbrook Museum, Cranbrook, Kent, England.

    Citation: Easton, T. & Hodgkinson, J. S., 2013, 'Apotropaic Symbols on Cast-Iron Firebacks', Jnl. of the Antique Metalware Soc., 21, pp. 14-33.

    Citation: Hodgkinson, J. S., 2010, British Cast-Iron Firebacks of the 16th to Mid-18th Centuries (Crawley, Hodgers Books).

  7. 1110

    crowborough,_luxford house 01.jpg
    >685 x 615 mm

    Description: Fragment; canted rectangular shape; twisted rope edging (top and sides); top right (i.e. probably top centre), unidentified (apparently inverted) ornamental capital letter 'T'; top left, a triple-loop fleur stamp; between, rose and crown.

    Notes: Probably slightly more than half of the original fireback, with stamps also seen on another, commonly copied, fireback. It might reasonably be supposed that the missing half may have also included an ornamental letter, companion to the surviving example. Formerly at Bentley, Halland, Sussex.

    Manufactured: in the late 16th century in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: in private hands, Crowborough, East Sussex, England.

    Citation: Fitt, H. F., 1931, 'Queries: Sussex Iron, II', Sussex Notes and Queries, 3, 8, p. 255.

  8. 1111

    crowborough,_luxford house 02.jpg
    615 x 610 mm

    Description: Arched shape; twisted rope edging (top and sides); top centre, over-pressed Tudor rose stamp on a square block; large diamond-shaped stamp with fleur-de-lys repeated each side below rose, both over-pressed.

    Notes: The diamond-shaped stamp has been seen on other firebacks; one of the stamps appears to have been repositioned twice before casting.

    Manufactured: in the mid to late 16th century in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: in private hands, Crowborough, East Sussex, England.

  9. 1112

    crowborough,_luxford house 03.jpg
    745 x 535 mm

    Description: Canted rectangular shape; individual moulded edging; centre, initials WB, above date.

    Notes: The text appears to have been imprinted into a mould formed from a base panel.

    Inscription: WB / 1697

    Manufactured: in 1697 possibly in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: in private hands, Crowborough, East Sussex, England.

  10. 1113

    crowborough,_luxford house 04.jpg
    840 x 570 mm

    Description: Quasi-rectangular with a three-facetted arch; top centre, left hand print; around each shoulder, M W mirrored.

    Notes: The likelihood is that the M and W are formed of a double-V (virgo virginum) intended to symbolise the Virgin Mary and have an apotropaic (evil-averting) purpose. It may be of significance that hand prints seen on firebacks are always of the left hand.

    Inscription: MW WM

    Manufactured: in the early 17th century possibly in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: in private hands, Crowborough, East Sussex, England.